A Walk In Other's Shoes - Poverty Challenge - Family

This challenge is asking families to attempt to stay within a social assistance budget for five days. Ontario Works benefits provide a maximum basic needs for a couple with any amount of children is $458.00; this sets the challenge budget at $75.00 per family, or $15 per day. A single parent would receive $344.00 per month, therefore, their challenge budget will be $60.00 or $12.00 per day.

The budget includes all food and drink, entertainment, some personal supplies and transportation costs. Each family will be given challenge cards which will reveal additional challenges to be completed before the end of each day. As the family completes the challenge, they will blog about their experience.

Boucher Family

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Oatmeal , oatmeal, oatmeal, how I love thee,but not for dad , kids were very hungry and gobbled it all down, toast and tea for me, I'm good. We ended up using white sugar instead of brown sugar, that is not a cheap thing. Maybe that is why my children ate it up, not healthy but effective in filling tummies.
We had planned on walking to our church but drove because Ange had to work there, much to the relief of the kids. But really, if we had no vehicle, the church we would have chosen would have been within walking distance, but with this cold weather, church may have been iffy.
We caught a ride with friends from church on their way to Mcdonalds then proceeded to get our winter gear on inside of the restaurant. I should mention that in the past, I mooched rides whenever and wherever I could so today was no different. Many people offered rides to our destination but we declined only taking the ride that was already on the way. We walked from Mcdonalds to the Jubilee church against a north wind. We had left our van at our church and I planned to walk back and get it home.
Wonderful service and meal at Jubilee , kudos to Pastor Frank and Lynn Kowal for their mission. After the afternoon at Jubilee ,Branson and I hoofed it all the way back to Lakeside Baptist (with a tailwind), Owen got a lunch invite from a friend (lucky), Ange and Katy went to the grocery story to return shampoo and buy a bit more food.
(Ange here) I broke down and bought coffee. I could not handle the headache I was getting so I returned some items so I could buy the coffee. I am sure this is not a rare occurence, people returning items to fun a vice. Kate and I started our walk home, we made it about half way before Gerry met up with us with the van. Kate was very happy for the sunshine and the fact that the cold wind was not freezing our faces anymore. She was also wondering, "how long do we have to do this walking thing?" When we got home I mooched two coffee filters from a neighbour. Gerry said back in the day he could use one coffee filter four times so I will give it a try.
Our challenge today was - One of you family members has a terrible tooth ache. Fortunately it does not require any dental work at this time but it is very sensitive. Find a solution. Our solution was that family member should rinse their mouth out with salt water and do that a few times throughout the day. Tomorrow when the Northwest Health Unit is open I will walk there and see if we can get anything or get any advice about what to do about the tooth ache.
Spending the rest of the day at home because it is just too cold to go anywhere are we are too tired to be walking around.

We are a family that likes to do many activities together. We enjoy hunting, fishing, hiking and camping. Reading is a favorite activity for all of us and the children and I (Ange) go to the library often. As a family we are involved in Scouts, cross country skiing lessons and church activities.

Average weekly budget for “basic needs” (food, transportation, personal supplies, entertainment etc – not shelter related costs): This was an interesting exercise as I have never really crunched the numbers but after looking at a month of expenditures, these are our weekly averages. Food-$100, Gas for van-$60, Restaurant-$10, Vehicle payment-$90. The two programs the 3 kids are signed up for the year average out to costing $18 a week; this could be considered the entertainment budget.

Family “splurge”: Going to a restaurant, sending boys to summer camp.

The one item or service you purchase that you can’t live without: Van, as we have family in Manitoba we like to visit.

What do you anticipate being the most difficult in the challenge? Getting around without a vehicle as I work in Kenora and Keewatin would be difficult.
What do your children anticipate being most difficult? No electronics, walking everywhere in the cold.

Why did you decide to take the challenge? To remind us as a family that even though we have a modest lifestyle we are wealthy compared too many and to be thankful for what we have. To teach empathy to our children and remind us (parents) to use our resources more wisely.